


The Sound of Silence

by setosdarkness



Series: OTP Collection - JuHaku [11]
Category: Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic
Genre: M/M, Manga Spoilers, protective!Judar
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-21
Updated: 2014-12-21
Packaged: 2018-03-02 14:37:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2815655
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/setosdarkness/pseuds/setosdarkness
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Judar makes sure that nobody opposes Hakuryuu. [Judar/Hakuryuu, spoilers up to ch 250, over-protective Judar]</p><p>[or: the one where Judar is the one who enforces the martial law]<br/>[or: the 'Judar is protective of his king' fic]<br/>[or: the one where there's no way anybody will oppose Hakuryuu anymore if there's nobody else in their kingdom aside from the two of them]</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Sound of Silence

**Author's Note:**

> MANGA SPOILERS until chapter 250. Inspired by Judar's first meeting with Aladdin, where he challenges the other to a magi contest, where they fire off magoi that end up skewering the ground (and some civilians who were around). Also, because no matter how heartwarming Judar and Hakuryuu's partnership is… Judar is still kind of crazy LOL i wanted to write something that shows a crazy Judar + a sweet Judar and here's the result;;;;

•••

The first time it happens isn't deliberate – Judar has been enjoying his newfound peace in the castle that just used to bring upon a strange itch from deep within him, along with a near-howling cry of anger and pain.

More specifically, Judar has been enjoying his time floating about, mourning the loss of his favorite peach trees to the battle that just happened three days ago. But then again, once he thinks about the satisfying crunch of that hag's stomach against his kick, once he thinks about the way Hakuryuu's mouth was stretched in that savage snarl, once he thinks about the way that old hag is finally fucking gone… ahh, he doesn't mind the loss of the peach trees _that_ much anymore.

Of course, as useless as he is with the 8th type of magic, he can probably give an order to the rukh swirling around him to grow faster to a peach tree, once he actually obtains some peach seedlings from the market a couple of blocks away. Of course, he could just actually go to the market and harass the merchants into supplying him with crates of peaches.

Either of those options will require him to spend some time away from the still-being-rebuilt castle – more specifically, the wide bedside window where he can spy Hakuryuu from.

He's not quite sure if Hakuryuu can see him diligently guarding the castle and simultaneously keeping an eye on him.

…It's not like he needs praise for doing this even if the other hasn't explicitly asked this of him. Still, it would be great if Hakuryuu would acknowledge him even more. Hakuryuu's been acknowledging and praising him more recently, almost as though they were back to their childhood years where Hakuryuu looked up to him.

…But then again, praise or no, he'd never want to return to the past – that fucking old hag is still present then. She's not here, not anywhere, not anymore.

…In any case, he keeps close to the castle, not because those two annoying geezers keep on harping about how a _magi_ must be close to the king at all times. While sure, he'd love to tease Hakuryuu about and hang around him and breathe in the heady quality of his tainted rukh, he can sense that Hakuryuu's not yet ready to entertain him now. He needs his time and space to decide who to hate next, who to crush next, who to battle next.

…So, he wants to stay close to the castle because he wants to be within easy reach once Hakuryuu snaps out of these days of empty gazes.

…Also, humans are known for being foolish, so Judar won't put it past them to actually launch a rebellion now that Hakuryuu hasn't been showing his face to them – maybe they'll remember that time long ago when Hakuryuu spent long months bedridden and defenseless, recovering from the Great Fire – maybe they'll think that they have an opportunity now to hurt the king, out of their own greed, out of their worship for that damn hag, out of their allure with Kouen.  
  
Hmph.

Judar will never allow it.

Sure, he's getting the hang of the long-range teleportation magic, but he doesn't want to take any chances.

In any case, he didn't actually plan on serving as Hakuryuu's bodyguard or anything like that.

He also didn't make any plans on disciplining civilians or any plans of interfering with how Hakuryuu wants to run this new country of theirs.

It's just…

So Judar is hanging around, bored out of his skull and definitely not that interested in spending his time to wrestle control and more knowledge out of Mogamett's rukh (why do that now when he can do in the evenings, when the only light he'll see is the bedside lamp that casts an amber light across Hakuryuu's empty eyes).

The two old geezers prove to be as useless as ever when they prove that they don't even screen the soldiers they recruit into lining the palace walls – because those suspicious soldiers are now forming a conspicuous group making a beeline for Hakuryuu's chambers.

He doesn't waste time listening in to their words of dissent nor does he even try to read the flow of rukh around their heads. Their swords are drawn and their expressions are ugly – not controlled by Belial though, because right now, Hakuryuu is dressed in just his bandages and his light robes and his spear and shoulder plates are on a pile at the other end of the huge-ass bed. Judar doesn't even bother questioning them of their motives – normal people don't know anything about Kouen's grandiose plans or about the irregularities overrunning the world. Nobody _else_ in this entire world understands Hakuryuu's thoughts and plans and personality – something that Hakuryuu should realize very soon – so Judar knows that it's a futile effort trying to see if these plebeians just misunderstood Hakuryuu's murder of the witch.

Judar keeps one eye trained on Hakuryuu – even if the other doesn't even flinch nor does his gaze flicker as he continues to stare at a random spot on the wall across him.

Hmm.

Hakuryuu likes to throw little fits whenever Judar does something that he doesn't explicitly ask for, but not only does Judar enjoy riling Hakuryuu up, but the other always ends up settling down because they both instinctively know that Judar will not do anything that can jeopardize Hakuryuu in any way.

…With that in mind, Judar gathers some _magoi_ around the tip of his new staff as he ponders about how he'd like to punish these fools for daring to think that they can just storm into the castle and harm his _king_.

Like the chosen king doesn't have a _magi_ by his side.

Like Judar would ever allow such insolence.

It's been so long since he last used his favorite ice magic, so he settles for that, pulling some water from the nearby stream. He doesn't think Hakuryuu will be particularly happy to see that stream dried up though, so he makes sure to not take too much. After all, it's not like these _fools_ are worth so much of his power.

He forms thin ice shards out of the _magoi_ he has gathered, sharp enough to be deadly, thin enough to not ruin a section of the castle entirely. With a yawn, Judar flicks his wrist to send the ice shards raining upon the idiots, keeping one eye trained on his king for any response, or worse, displeasure from being roused from his contemplation in an unsightly manner.

Hakuryuu doesn't break eye contact with the boring wallpaper.  
  
Hmph.

Judar ignores the angry yells for him – mostly interlaced with complaints with the bloody mess he left behind.

So, yes, he didn't really _plan_ to become Hakuryuu's bodyguard or anything like that.

•••

"Do you want them to hate you, Hakuryuu?"

Judar asks as he swings his legs in the air, floating just above Hakuryuu, supposedly because he's a fickle being who only knew how to enjoy himself, but mostly because he has a wider field of vision this way, and even more importantly, he can envelop him and Hakuryuu inside his _borg_ easier this way.

Hakuryuu only smiles at him, a challenging glint in his eyes as though he's testing Judar's claim that he understands him completely.

Judar rolls his eyes and fights the urge to tug at the other's hair and dislodge the elaborate hair pin atop his pretty little head. _Of course_ , Judar understands him, even if Hakuryuu doesn't say it out loud, but what's the point of finally having Hakuryuu by his side if they won't _talk_?

Should he start looking into the possibilities of talking to one another just using their thoughts? That sounds so very boring—but wait, maybe he can finally have solid proof that Hakuryuu admires his abs that way. Did the Mogamett geezer even waste time looking into such magic? Hmm.

"YOU MONSTER!!!" One of the ministers yells out, voice ringing out in the hallway and looking incredibly out of place in the group of people that serve Hakuryuu with their heads bowed down obediently. 

Judar stares at the balding man and wonders if the other missed his _demonstration_ earlier this morning about how one simply didn't do anything that displeased the king, and therefore his magi. Why does everyone seem to think they can get away with this kind of behavior? It shouldn't be a surprise to them that he's very protective of Hakuryuu – they've been good friends since their youth and that's hardly a secret. Does this mean that everybody's just so stupid that they can't remember those days?

"Haaa, shut up you geezer," Judar snarls as he pierces the minister with three bursts of black thunder, one for interrupting their trip back to Hakuryuu's chambers, one for daring to yell inside the castle when that's his sole right and another, well, he doesn't like anyone raising their voice to Hakuryuu. Nobody else should do that aside from himself.

Hakuryuu only watches him, a disinterested air on his person, though Judar is very good at smelling bloodlust – something that Hakuryuu can never hide from him.

"…don't make such a mess next time, Judar," is all he says, before he continues his walk back to his chambers, trusting that Judar will follow.

See, it's not deliberate, but Judar finds that he likes receiving that kind of expression – the perfect mix of trusting gratitude and cheeky ungratefulness – from Hakuryuu.

•••

The next time Judar hears about a group of dissenters, he exercises the initiative to teleport them all to the base where he and Hakuryuu first started their crusade against the damn witch. They all look so stupid, almost as though they're about to wet their pants at the sight of him and the terrifying aura he knows he must possess right now.

"Nobody insults Hakuryuu except for me," he informs them flatly, before turning them to useless piles of charcoal.

Judar surveys his work afterwards, nodding in satisfaction at the lack of blood splatters. Before he can inspect the leftover charred remains of the people who made the mistake of calling Hakuryuu a stupid king within Judar's hearing range, Judar feels a tingle run through him, two seconds before he actually hears Hakuryuu's voice echo into the long-range communication device he's working on perfecting.

"I'll be right there, Hakuryuu~~" He says quickly, waving his staff around in quick strokes so he can draw the transfer circle.

Not even five seconds later and he's tumbling straight into Hakuryuu's lap, his _borg_ automatically activated to envelop both of their bodies.

"I was just going to tell you that I had the chefs prepare a peach salad for you," Hakuryuu tells him amusedly, not bothered by the very least by a lapful of _magi_ that just appeared out of thin air. The guards have been trained to always face away from the throne and to never look back unless explicitly ordered – not unless they'd like to forfeit their life. "There was no need to use the transfer magic."

"Eh, what's the use of studying that when I can't use it?" Judar tilts his head as he makes himself comfortable on Hakuryuu's lap. Probably the only thing he liked about Koutoku being an emperor is that his fat ass made sure that throne is wide enough for two people.

Judar then leans forward and noses along the lines of Hakuryuu's robe, burrowing close and seeking Hakuryuu's skin. He doesn't mention that the real reason that he's studying long-range teleportation magic because he wants the ability to come running to Hakuryuu no matter what the situation, no matter how far apart they are (not that Judar will ever allow them to be separated for too long – what if that chibi magi uses another weird magic and ends up turning Hakuryuu back to their side, he's worked so hard to make Hakuryuu see eye-to-eye okay, he's never letting him out of his sight).

"You're probably just too excited about the peach dessert," Hakuryuu murmurs teasingly, his right hand sifting through Judar's hair. Judar likes it when Hakuryuu does that – likes it arguably better than when Hakuryuu pulls his hair roughly – so he always loosens the hold of magic on his braid whenever this happens. "Or maybe you got too excited about implementing the martial law?"

"Eh. It's not exciting, Hakuryuu," Judar complains with a grin, because trust Hakuryuu to know what he's up to at all times.

"You didn't enjoy yourself?" Hakuryuu asks with a cocked eyebrow, moving his right hand to Judar's cheek and wiping deliberately at a spot of blackened dust— _oh_. "You even made a new move for them."

"I just concentrated my thunder magic," Judar admits, though he's pretty stoked that Hakuryuu has noticed those. "But it's not exciting at all!"

"I could have just changed their minds with Belial and Zagan."

"They're pretty useless, Hakuryuu. They just kept on complaining about stuff. You don't need them."

Hakuryuu doesn't comment on how Judar's probably not the best person to complain about people loving to complain. "Did they insult you?"

" _Worse_ ," Judar says with a sigh, rubbing his cheek against Hakuryuu's callused hand. "They called you a stupid king."

"So you killed them for that?"

"Well, yes."

Hakuryuu laughs – a low, dark laugh that's so different from his previous laugh when he was still young and impressionable, so different from his laugh when he finally fell into depravity with him. Judar shivers as he realizes that he likes this sound a lot more. It's filled with such pure darkness – trust Hakuryuu to be so _pure_ even when fallen. Maybe Judar doesn't need to worry so much about Hakuryuu's mind being changed or his rukh being re-tainted, as long as Hakuryuu can laugh like this.

"…As expected of my magi."

Judar doesn't mention how those words are too uncomfortably close to what Kouen once uttered.

"Let's eat that peach salad, Hakuryuu~" Judar says instead, pushing himself off the throne, hand tugging at Hakuryuu's elbow. Hakuryuu's expression appears blank to everybody else, but Judar still doesn't want to take a chance on others catching a glimpse of the darkness in the other's eyes, so he has threatened all of the guards to always make sure that they're facing away from Hakuryuu, especially when the two of them are together.

He's never been the type to follow orders or be submissive to anyone, because he likes doing his own thing, but if being on the same side as Hakuryuu involves _all of these_ , then, well. He doesn't mind tapping into his overprotective tendencies for Hakuryuu's sake.

•••

"That's not advisable, Emperor Hakuryuu!"

"That's not—"

"Argh, so noisy, you piece of shit geezers!" Judar complains as floats by Hakuryuu's right shoulder, his hands cupped over his ears so that he can't hear more of the stupid shit the two old men keep on spouting. His staff floats in front of him, ready to spin to deflect any attacks that might come their way.

Judar rolls his eyes at the way they gasp at his so-called inappropriate behavior of sticking close to Hakuryuu – in this case, of touching Hakuryuu's face so easily. "Want me to kill them, Hakuryuu?"

Hakuryuu – as usual for him recently – simply smiles at him, challenging him as always to follow and understand what's on his mind.

As long as there's a magi and there's a chosen king, there can be a kingdom anywhere. Honestly, those two geezers are unnecessary – especially since they have really weird delusions of Hakuryuu, imposing his late father and brothers upon him. They don't understand how special Hakuryuu truly is – which is just fine, because he's more than satisfied with not having a lot of competition for Hakuryuu's attention.

Though, without those two generals, the castle will become _really_ empty. Not that Judar minds all that much – he's long wanted this fight to be just him and Hakuryuu against the rest of the world anyway.

Without any sound of protest from Hakuryuu, Judar grins at the two generals as he prepares to erase them from this world as well.

"Well, you heard our oh-so-mighty king," Judar says with a roll of his shoulders, floating in front of Hakuryuu, standing in-between his king and the dissenters. "Nobody can oppose him~"

Ahh, he's looking forward to having this kingdom just to himself and his king.

••• **end**


End file.
